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ChapterEight
Choyce
As careful asshe was trying to be when she got out of the bed, Choyce was already up. His spirit told him she was going to try and leave early for some reason. Even with her agreeing to check out of her hotel room, there was still a barrier between them.
Sitting up, Choyce allowed his eyes to scan the back of her frame as she grabbed her dress off the floor. When she turned and saw him, she clutched her chest and jumped. Laughing quietly, she ran her hand over her face.
“Jesus, Choyce. You scared me.”
“Are you ready to tell me what you’re hiding from me?”
Her eyes rolled and she released a heavy breath. “I was hoping I could wait until our week was over.”
“That’s your right, but I would prefer it if you told me now because I have something to tell you as well.”
“What is it?”
“You first.”
She cleared her throat and dropped her dress. As much as Choyce told himself not to become distracted by her beautiful body, his dick throbbed. His shit was already hard and in desperate need of release. Lavender scratched between her eyebrows, then made her way over to the bed. Instead of sitting next to him by the headboard, she sat on the edge—so close to it if she moved an inch, she’d fall off. The space she wanted between them wouldn’t matter. If she was hiding something bad enough to warrant this hesitation, Choyce would feel the gut-punch either way.
Cupping her hands in her lap, Lavender licked her lips. “I want you to know I meant it when I said I came here for you. It’s been ten years, and I finally felt strong enough to come back. The sadness has finally started to subside, but there’s so much hate and anger left.” He nodded as she clenched her jaw and looked down as her head shook. “Your father and grandfather… they took every-fucking-thing I loved from me.” She wiped her tears quickly, then looked into his eyes. “My parents are dead, and it seemed like a better fate than the suffering they were put through all day every day. My sister was sold, and I have no earthly idea if she’s even still alive. When I saw your brother, I recognized him as one of the men who came to get us. And I…” Lavender paused, trying to control her anger. “I’ve spent so much fucking time planning how I would make every last one of those men pay.”
The wheels in his head began to spin as she continued. “From the ones who kidnapped us to the ones who held my family captive and abused us in different ways. I made up in my mind that I would kill them all.”
For a while, all he could do was stare at her in disbelief. His brows were lifted, mouth partially open as his throat felt like it would seal shut.
“Wait.” Choyce’s hands lifted, and he chuckled as he tried to process her confession. Up until now, it seemed like a coincidence that everyone that was involved in her family’s demise had died over the years. No two men were killed the same way or at the same time. If she was behind the murders, Lavender was a mastermind. “Are you saying you’re responsible for the deaths that have plagued the Jerome family over the years? I don’t fuck with them, but Mercy kept me informed every time someone was killed. That was you?”
Nodding, she released a shaky breath. “Yes. I didn’t commit the murders, but I did plan them and hire hitmen. I said I wouldn’t stop until they were all dead, and there’s only one left.”
Mercy.
His fucking brother.
“You came back here to kill my brother, Lavender?”
Her mouth opened and closed, but shame made it difficult for her to speak, so he did.
“I understand that a part of being a teenager is feeling things intensely. They took a lot from you, and I will never downplay that. Hell, I won’t even say I can’t understand you doing what you’ve done because I would have done the same shit, too, but my brother didn’t touch your family, Lav, and I’m not going to let you kill him.”
She scoffed and stood. “Unless you plan to kill me before I leave, you don’t have a choice. I vowed revenge because that’s the only way I can get this hate and anger out of me. I can’t stop until every one of them is dead.”
“But he helped you. That money I gave you, that shit was from him. He put his own team over your family. We didn’t know Armani would offer them three times as much to kill your parents.”
Lavender smiled softly as her head shook. “There’s nothing you can say to change my mind, Choyce. My family deserves justice.”
“I gave them justice when I killed my own fucking father!” he roared, leaping from the bed. “Armani is dead, too. Outside of them, Winston and your father are the only other men responsible for what was taken from you.” Her head shook as tears poured from her eyes. A quiet laugh fell from his lips before he licked them. “I told myself I chose to save you that night, but the truth is, I really didn’t have a choice. From the moment I laid eyes on you, you were mine. My mother had just told me to remember that I had a choice… but with you… there was only one. In that moment, I knew I had to do whatever I had to do to save you. And you’re going to stand there and say that the thanks I get for saving your life is you trying to take my brother’s?”
“I’ve already made up my mind,” she reminded.
“Then change it. Because I love you, but I swear to God if it’s you or him… this time I won’t be able to choose you.”
“Well, I don’t have a choice!” Lavender yelled, tears pouring. “You think I like what that night turned me into? I never wanted to kill anyone or have them killed, and I for damn sure didn’t want to spend the rest of my life in pain! Every day of my life I’m filled with hate because of what they did, and I’ve tried everything to stop it, but nothing has helped other than knowing the people responsible were dead just like my family.”
Choyce’s head bobbed once. He licked his lips and walked over to her until only a few feet of space remained between them.
“I understand your pain, probably better than anyone else in this world.” Lavender covered her face, shoulders shaking as she sobbed. As much as Choyce wanted to comfort her, he kept his distance. “But I need you to listen to me.” Finally, Choyce walked over to her and took her hands into his. “I need you to choose.” Her eyes squeezed shut and her head shook. “And I want to say I know what it will be, otherwise you wouldn’t have come here or even told me.”
“Baby,” she pleaded.
“If you want revenge like you think you do, you wouldn’t have reached out for me. You would have just found him, paid someone to kill him, then left. But you came to me because you know only love covers hate. Revenge won’t heal you, boo, only love will.”
“Choyce, stop,” she begged, trying to put space between them.
“That’s why you came to me. Because you know I love you. So I need you to choose right now. Love or hate. A future with me or the pain of the past. Let me know your choice, Lavender.”
“I don’t have anyone anymore.”
